So I spent the last 8 months grinding on Instagram and TikTok for my small bakery. Went from like 200 followers to almost 15k. I was so pumped, thought the orders would start rolling in. But my sales are basically flat. Same number of walk-ins, same custom cake orders. What the hell am I missing? Is it all just vanity metrics? I see other local businesses with way fewer followers killing it and I'm over here with 15k people who apparently don't buy anything.
Social Media
I thought more social media followers meant more business
15k is great for reach but are they local? I run a small shop too and realized most of my followers were from other countries because of a viral reel. Useless for my physical store. Try running a poll to see where people are located.
Followers don't pay bills. Engagement does. You can have 100k followers and if they're just lurking, you get nothing. What's your engagement rate like? Are people commenting and saving your posts or just double tapping and scrolling?
Engagement is decent I guess? Like 3-4% on some posts. But it's mostly emojis and 'yum' comments. No one clicking the link in bio to order.
Maybe your content is too pretty and not actionable. Are you actually telling people to buy? Like 'Order now' or 'DM to reserve'? Also, are you posting your location constantly? I've seen so many accounts that look nice but I have no idea where they are.
Honestly, I follow a bunch of local places and I rarely buy from them just because I see their posts. I go when I need something. Maybe your followers are the same. It's not always about immediate sales, it's about staying top of mind. But yeah, 15k with no bump does sound weird.
You're probably not reaching your existing customers. Social media is for awareness, not conversion, unless you're doing direct response ads. Are you running any targeted ads to your zip code? That's where the money is.
I had the same problem. Turned out my followers were mostly other bakers and hobbyists who liked looking at cakes but didn't live anywhere near me. I started posting more behind-the-scenes and local events, and that helped a bit.
Also, are you actually selling something people want? Not to be harsh, but if your bakery is just cupcakes and there are 5 other places nearby, followers might just be following for the pretty pictures. Maybe you need a unique offer.
Wait, marketing_maven said ads are where the money is. I tried ads and lost money. Maybe it depends on the product. For a bakery, I'd say focus on local SEO and Google Maps before dumping money into IG ads.